Cats Return from Productive Trip to Germany

ABILENE – The Abilene Christian men's basketball team recently returned from a trip to Germany with a basket full of memories and new experiences.
 
Overseas travel isn't new to the Wildcats, but this particular trip was the first time head coach Brette Tanner took the team to Europe.
 
"We have taken trips in the past and they have been great," said Tanner.  "We have gone to Costa Rica and the US Virgin Islands.  As great as those trips were I just felt like it was time to take our team to Europe.  There is so much history there that I think a lot of our guys didn't even know existed.  So, the educational aspect as well as the competition is better in Europe than it is in those other places."
 
The team flew into Frankfort and stayed three nights in Heidelberg before bussing to Nuremberg for two nights and then finishing the tour of Southern Germany with a stay in Munich.
 
The trip included competitions, camps and touring historical places.
 
"Being able to do a camp for the US Military kids at Ramstein Air Force Base was special for me," Tanner said. "I was one of those kids growing up so I know what they go through on a day-to-day basis. I actually lived in Germany so I know that they don't get Division I basketball teams coming to town to do free clinics. The smiles on the faces of those kids were priceless. And the one thing I didn't anticipate was the gratitude of the parents when they came to pick their child up."
 
The visit had its reflective moments as well.
 
"There is no experience in the world like walking through a concentration camp like we did in Dachau, Germany," said Tanner. "You can learn all you want in history books but it hits you differently when you walk those paths and through those buildings. My only regret is that we didn't schedule more time there."
 
A good basketball team makes adjustments when necessary and Tanner saw his crew adapt surprisingly well.

 
"Competing, breaking bread and praying with a team from across the ocean will always stick with me as well," said Tanner. "I thought our guys would struggle to sit and eat and hold conversations with people who seem so different from them. But I actually had to tell them that we had to leave. I think our guys could have stayed for another couple of hours if I would have let them. It is amazing how a round ball can bring people together."
 
The team didn't just bond with the natives and children of US servicemen. They came together during the experience themselves.
 
"I think just being together for that length of time, when you are in a foreign country there is nobody but you, you can't go off and do your own thing," Tanner said. "I also think it was good for our American players to be able to see what our international players go through travel-wise every time they go home and come back."
 
If resources and opportunities permit, ACU will continue to go on the trips.
 
"As long as we have people that are willing to help us, we will do it every four years," said Tanner. "The opportunity to educate, serve and compete can't be matched. Each trip that I have been fortunate enough to take with a team has become the one thing that we always talk about when we get back together. It has a lasting impact."